| Historical notes: | Hunters Hill:
At the time of European contact the Kelly's bush area was inhabited by the Wal Umedegal Clan who spoke the Guringai language. They lived primarly on fish and shellfish, supplmenting their diet when necessary with vegetables, marsupials, birds and grubs. They were also frequently observed firing the scrub both to facilitate access to the foreshore and to flush out game. Very little is known of their social structure and religious beliefs (Pitt, 2011).
Captain John Hunter (1737-1821) of the Sirius, charted Sydney harbour in 1788. On 28 January 1788 he wrote in his journal: 'A few days after my arrival with the transports in Port Jackson, I set off with a six-oared boat and a small boat, intending to make as good a survey of the harbour as circumstances would admit: I took to my assistance Mr Bradley, the first lieutenant, Mr Keltie, the master, and a young gentleman of the quarter-deck (midshipman Henry Waterhouse).' Hunter's meticulous chart shows 30 depth soundings around the peninsula bounded by the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers. Hunter was Governor of the Colony from 1795-1800. He is commemorated in the name of Hunters Hill (Sherry/Hunters Hill Historical Society, 2011, 15).
In 1855 a speculative housing venture of erecting four prefabricated Swiss Cottages at Hunters Hill was underway. In this period Hunters Hill was an established French enclave, with the residence of the French consul located there at "Passy", and much of its early development was constructed by men of French descent. The prefabricated houses were advertised as "four splendid family residences, standing in their own grounds, of about 1 acres each", with "wood and water in abundance" ( Sherry 1989, 48).
Beverley Sherry in her study of Hunter Hill notes that this was the first planned group of houses to be built in the municipality, marking the beginning of the garden suburb character of Australia's oldest Garden Suburb The subdivision and garden suburb development occurred in the mid to late nineteenth century, predating the formation of the Garden Suburb movement. The historic development at Hunters Hill was consistently speculative, although some of the subdivisions were undertaken to provide residences for family members (Mattingley, 2007).
Thomas Stubbs 1835 -1847:
Thomas Stubbs purchased 2 allotments of land at the head of Tarban Creek in 1835. This land adjoined the first land grants, part of the Eastern Farms, towards the western end of the present Municipality of Hunters Hill. Stubbs built a sandstone far, house, outbuildings and began farming his eighteen acres (This is now called 'the Stubbs Wing')(The Priory Preservation Restoration Trust, 2008).
Marist Fathers 1847 - 1874:
The Marists had arrived in Australia in December 1837, after establishing mission stations on two South-west Pacific islands, Wallis and Futuna (Giuliani, 2007).
In 1847 Stubbs sold his two blocks to Fr. Jean-Louis Rocher of (Giuliani, 2007) the Marist Fathers who were looking to establish a base for missionaries in the South Pacific. The Fathers built a new building on the site in 1857 which they called 'Villa Maria' , moving in immediately and this forming the base for the Marist Pacific Missions (ibid, 2015; now called 'the Weaver Wing': The Priory Preservation Restoration Trust, 2008) which incorporated part of and extended Stubbs original sandstone farmhouse. The new building was designed by architect-engineer, William Weaver in a Palladian or 'old Colonial Regency' style.
Weaver worked in New South Wales from 1851 to 1864. He served as Colonial Architect from 1855-56, then set up in private practice, aged 28, at 25 Pitt Street, Sydney. The colonial economy was prospering, the new Sydney Railway was running as far as Liverpool and suburban development encouraged speculative building. Villa Maria (now known as the Priory) is one surviving example of Weaver's first year in private practice. It was commenced in February 1857, completed that November at a cost of 1685 pounds and built by local stone masons. The long eastern front with stone flagged verandah has a fine and unaltered Georgian symmetry favoured by Weaver for his residence designs. Another of his favourite features evident in Villa Maria is the extension of the sides to the back of the building creating a courtyard. The plan incorporated a pre-1847 cottage as a northern wing. Accounts signed by Weaver indicate a smooth and rapid progress of construction (Maguire, 1984, 47).
The renamed Villa Maria reorientated the original farmhouse towards the harbour, taking full advantage of the site and view. The Marist Fathers continued to farm the land and, amongst numerous other activities, extended Stubb's vineyards.
The property contained vast orchards, vineyards (ibid, 2007) and gardens and provided rest and recuperation for the Marist Fathers' South Pacific missionaries (The Priory Preservation Restoration Trust, c.2008). Goods and materials were bought and stored here to supply the Pacific Island mission stations. The house was also used for rest and recuperation for missionaries exhausted from their work on the island mission stations (ibid, 2007).
During its period as 'Villa Maria', a wooden chapel on the site was the resting place of the body of St Peter Chanel, Proto-martyr of Oceania from 7 May 1849 till some time before February 1850 when it was taken to France. Fr Peter (Pierre) Chanel met his martyrdom on the island of Futuna, on 28 April 1841; he was canonised in 1954. It was also the residence of Blessed Giovanni Mazzucconi on his arrival in the region in 1852 and again immediately before his martyrdom, by New Guinea Islanders, in 1855. These associations make the Priory a place of exceptional importance both for Australian Catholics and for Australians of French or Italian background.
The establishment of the South Sea mission house by the Marist Fathers was the first presence of French settlers in the Municipality of Hunters Hill. From 1853, however, the Fathers began acquiring land on the other side of Tarban Creek.
The small size of available dwellings on the property, and large numbers of people sometimes accommodated there, made some kind of expansion essential. There was sandstone on the property, which could be quarried and one of the Marist Brothers, Gennade Rolland was an able stone mason and iron worker, which would make the work economical. An impressive two-storey stone structure was built in 1857, the architects being Weaver and Kemp. This stands at right angles to the original dwelling (ibid, 2007).
It appears that the Marist fathers had moved to another newly constructed 'Villa Maria' (in Hunters Hill) by 1864 and that site remains in their ownership to the present day.
In 1862 an attempt had been made to sell the original Villa Maria to the government for the (Gladesville) Mental Hospital, which failed. It was interesting as an attempt, because the property was eventually sold to the state for this purpose many years later, and not by the Marists. They retained the property for some years, using it as a convent. FInally they sold it to Thomas Salter in 1874, rather cheaply (ibid, 2007).
Thomas Salter 1874 - 1888:
Although the Brothers were unable to immediately sell the old mission house upon their removal, by 1874 Thomas Salter had acquired the house and farmland for (Pounds)2,000. He renamed the house 'The Priory' and added his own L-shaped, picturesque gothic extension (now called 'the Salter Wing', added c.1875)(The Priory Preservation Restoration Trust, 2008) behind Weaver's Palladian front on the north west. A map of 1885 shows the layout of Salter's land. It addition to the original kitchen, the Old Mission House and extensive stone terracing, the map shows the footprint of a shed, bush house, latrines, out house, tennis court, stables and coach houses. The position of the garden, poultry yard and cultivation paddock are clearly marked.
Gladesville Hospital 1888:
When Thomas Salter moved from The Priory to Brynault in Mount Street in 1887 he sold the land to Gladesville Mental Hospital, the earliest psychiatric hospital on the Australian mainland (The Priory Preservation Restoration Trust, 2008).
The Priory became the first hospital building to be utilised on the Riverglade Campus, the area of the hospital on the northern side of Victoria Road. For more than 60 years the surrounding land was farmed by patients for the production of fruit and vegetables for hospital use. Land reclaimed along the Tarban Creek shoreline extended the arable area.
A Metropolitan Sewerage & Drainage Board Map of 1928 shows, in addition to the kitchen, shed, latrines, out house and Old Mission House identified on the map of 1885, a new large stables building to the west at the rear of the house and the cow bails building alongside the kitchen. The Priory is labelled the Dairy on this map.
1887-1947: the surrounding land was farmed by patients for the production of fruit and vegetables for hospital use. Land reclaimed along Tarban Creek shoreline extended the arable area (CMP, 2009, 15).
Twentieth Century Changes:
A 1928 map shows a large stables building to the south at the rear of the houe and the cow bails building alongside the kitchen. The Priory is labelled 'The Dairy' on this map. The western verandah form varies from that on the 1885 survey plan and it appears a single storey pavilion of the Weaver extension may have been extended to the west (ibid, 15).
Little change occurred over the site in the early 20th century. Land below the Mission House was used as a golf course in the 1920s and 1930s, and the house istelsf used as the Ladies' Club House.
The main evidence of war-time occupancy of Gladesville Hospital - is the c.1942 air raid shelter (near the vegetable gardens, later used as a garden storage shed) and an ablution block, built more recently and the only intrusive structure on site. The air raid shelter was for patients and staff at the hospital and was cut into the terrace alongside the Weaver wing's main front.
1950s changes included: alterations to The Priory building; demolition of the Mission House in 1952, conversion of the cow shed into a store and cleaning room, following fires in 1954 and 1958; and removal of Salter's stone garden store in 1955 (CMP, 2009, 17).
1967 NSW Public Works Department changes:
1966 and 1967 plans show modifications made during the 1967 NSW Public Works Department maintenance program. Toilets to the rear of the pavilion of the Weaver wing were removed to convert the space to a boiler room and a tank and stand erected to the south. These have since been removed. A brick extension, with a clip-lock roof, was added to the south of the boiler room to provide a new shower and toilet facilities. This necessitated excavation and building the retaining wall to the west.
Two of the windows int he rear wall of the Weaver pavilion were filled in and the third converted to a doorway to the new extension. Fire escape doors were inserted into window openings in the west wall of the Weaver wing and the south wall of the Salter wing, and metal stairs attached. These were later removed and the windows reconstructed (CMP, 2009, 20).
A commercial kitchen was installed (c.1967) at the western end of the Salter wing. This required removal of walls, fireplaces, floors and joinery. The fitout of the kitchen was removed in a later upgrade of the house, and the servery between kitchen and dining room filled in and the surface re-finished (ibid, 21). A building maintenance program in 1967 saw a number of modifications made: various alterations to front and rear verandahs, removal or blocking (up) of chimneys and repair and replacement of joinery. Internal finishes such as wall and ceiling plaster were changed. A timber-framed tank stand was built on the southern elevation (later removed) and there were excavations and rebuilding of retaining walls. The grounds were also altered in this period: earlier, in 1889, mud flats at Tarban Creek were filled to provide more agricultural land. This area was cultivated continuously until the 1950s. In 1957, approximately 100 tons of soil from the vegetable garden was removed to build a sports oval on the southern side of Victoria Road. The citrus orchard, possibly remaining in the Marist Brothers period, was buried by fill in the mid-1970s and 1980s. These extensive episodes of filling have altered the landscape of The Priory and Tarban Creek.
More recently, The Priory had been a ward for patients who although rehabilitated, still required supervision. Nearby vegetable gardens still supplied the hospital and were tended by patients.
Riverglade Hospital, 1975-85:
In 1975 the Asylum area north of Victoria Road was renamed the Riverglade Hospital and given over to care for the developmentally-disabled. The Priory itself formally operated as patient accommodation until 1985, known as Ward 2. The last few patients moved out by the end of 1985. It was then occupied by NSW Government's Mental Health Review Tribunal offices and staff. Further repairs and alterations ahead of the new occupation included removal of ceilings and cornices to the Stubbs and Salter wings, removal of the whole roof slating to the Stubbs wing (in 1985), replacement of external doors with modern designs, replacement of door hardware and removal of original flagging to the northern (Stubbs wing) porch (ibid, 21-2).
1981 drawings (figure 2,17) show planned changes to The Priory that don't appear to have been made. The west facade of the Weaver wing may have had additional openings previously. It is possible that NSW Department of Public Works had documentary evidence at this time relating to a former balcony and rear openings, which it planned to reinstate (ibid, 23).
1994 Subdivision, rezoning and future adaptive reuse:
The lot boundary of The Priory was reduced in 1994 when the property was subdivided by the State Government. The Priory on Lot 1 of DP823988 was retained in Government use and an area surrounding it to the north, east and south was sold into private ownership (ibid, 25). The Priory continued use as offices until the Mental Health Review Tribunal vacated in 1/2003.
The State Government sold the land surrounding the Priory, including the subject site, to private developers in 1994. The subdivision of the larger number of sites containing the entire curtilage of the Priory was approved by the Crown Lands Office and Hunters Hill Council in the same year. The boundaries of the subject site were established in a subdivision approved by Hunters Hill Council in 1997. This boundary followed the boundary set by Council for 'heritage conservation' in its Hunters Hill Local Environmental Plan 18 (LEP), gazetted in 1993.
The LEP zones the area of the Priory as 'heritage conservation' which permits any form of development on the land compatible with the heritage significance of the listed item 309 - the Priory and the Priory curtilage.
To ascertain what is compatible with the heritage significance of the site, the former owners, Keppel Land, sought heritage advice from consultants Godden Mackay Logan in 1999. This initial investigation into appropriate development options for the site recommended that residential use would be compatible in heritage terms with the heritage significance of the Priory, provided that its siting, form and scale does not detract from the significance and setting of the Priory.
2003-10
In 2003 the Department of Health vacated the site and it was uninhabited for some time.
A development application for an an apartment building concentrated development into the south-west corner of the Priory's former site to minimise the adverse impacts on land within the SHR curtilage. The application included a detached house within an area enclosed by tall hedges. More than half of that site will be dedicated to the public as a reserve. The applicant consulted with the Heritage Office in selecting sites as part of the process of listing the Priory on the State Heritage Register in 2004. Following public concerns the apartment building was reduced by one storey (i.e. now of of four stories) eliminating 2 units. All but two of the trees were kept and the detached house was reduced in height.
In 2006 development approval was given for construction of town houses south-west of The Priory, on Lot 201 DP878383. Land immediately north and east of The Priory has been dedicated for use as public open space. The Health Department transferred their ownership of the site to the Department of Lands and on 1/11/2007 the then Minister Tony Kelly MLC, added The Priory and its surrounds to the Riverglade Reserve (R100263) Trust, administered by Hunters Hill Council (ibid, 26).
On 1 November 2007 Tony Kelly MLC, Minister for Lands transferred the care, control and management of the Priory and its grounds to Hunters Hill Council to remain in public hands. On the same day the Mayor, Cr.Susan Hoopmann launched the Priory Preservation and Restoration Trust, which will manage the property and which operates a public fund for tax-deductible donations from the community towards its restoration, preservation and embellishment. Council intends that The Priory develop into a cultural and heritage hub for the wider community and the people of Hunters Hill. It is envisaged this will comprise art and museum space, meeting facilities, gardens for weddings and other events, in addition to a commercial facility providing coffee and other refreshments. |
